Denny McCarthy pushes through hip injury to co-lead FedEx St. Jude Championship - "Just got to keep doing what I'm doing"

Denny McCarthy is on the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship. The second round concluded on Friday, August 16, at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

After scoring 4-under 66, McCarthy carded a splendid 7-under 63 in the second round. The 31-year-old is leading the tournament despite battling a hip injury. Talking about it at a press conference, he said (via ASAP Sports):

"It's just coming through on the downswing a little bit. It's just hard to maybe get a little more rotation, push up through the ground than I would like. It's been okay."

Denny McCarthy tied for 66th at the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship and tied for 20th in 2022. Talking about how he will be playing in the final two rounds, the American said:

"I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing."

In the first round, Denny McCarthy scored three birdies on the 3rd, 5th, and 9th against a bogey par-4 1st on the front nine. On the back nine, he scored three more birdies on the 10th, 13th, and 16th holes against a bogey on par-4 12th.

In the second round, he scored five birdies on 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 8th against a bogey on par-4 7th on the front nine. On the back nine, he scored four birdies on the 10th, 13th, 15th, and 16th against a bogey on par-4 12th. He has an aggregate score of 11-under 129 and tied for first with Hideki Matsuyama. McCarthy said:

"Really good. It was a really good round. I did everything pretty well. I putted well. I hit a lot of good iron shots. Bounced back nicely after a couple of the bogeys I had. Yeah, everything felt really solid today."

He is currently positioned 45th in the FedExCup standings. If he wins the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship, he'll jump 41 spots to fourth on the leaderboard.

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A look at Denny McCarthy's performances in 2024

Denny McCarthy has had a decent 2024 season. In 21 starts, he has had three top-10 finishes and six top-25 finishes this year.

McCarthy's best performance came at the 2024 Valero Texas Open where he finished as a runner-up, losing to a birdie on the first extra hole in playoffs against Akshay Bhatia. His other notable performances include a T6 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship and a T7 finish at the John Deere Classic.

Let's take a look at Denny McCarthy's performances in the 2024 season:

2024 PGA TOUR Tournaments

• The Sentry: T43 (70-69-71-67, 277, -15)
• Sony Open in Hawaii: T24 (68-70-66-66, 270, -10)
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: T26 (68-70-70, 208, -8)
• WM Phoenix Open: T22 (72-68-66-69, 275, -9)
• The Genesis Invitational: T39 (69-74-68-72, 283, -1)
• Cognizant Classic: Missed Cut (69-72, 141, -1)
• Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard: T48 (72-74-72-74, 292, +4)
• THE PLAYERS Championship: T35 (71-71-71-69, 282, -6)
• Valero Texas Open: 2-y (68-70-67-63, 268, -20)
• Masters Tournament: T45 (74-74-79-70, 297, +9)
• RBC Heritage: T28 (69-70-66-71, 276, -8)
• Wells Fargo Championship: T6 (70-71-69-69, 279, -5)
• PGA Championship: Missed Cut (73-73, 146, +4)
• Charles Schwab Challenge: T24 (70-66-70-73, 279, -1)
• the Memorial Tournament pres. by Workday: T39 (76-70-73-76, 295, +7)
• U.S. Open: T32 (75-67-72-73, 287, +7)
• Travelers Championship: T31 (67-67-69-67, 270, -10)
• John Deere Classic: T7 (64-66-69-64, 263, -21)
• Genesis Scottish Open: Missed Cut (73-74, 147, +7)
• The Open: Missed Cut (73-78, 151, +9)
• Wyndham Championship: T33 (68-68-70-66, 272, -8)